Spartan Trike Kit

Feb, 27 2021

It has come to my attention that I have quite the following in the trike community, while I think we have a reasonably strong group of members on this forum I was recently asked to join a Facebook group for reverse trike lovers (Reverse & E-Trike), and they all seem to know who I was to start with.  Some folks on this forum have reached out to me in the past in efforts to use my designs for themselves which I almost always allow and will continue to do so.  I think there is a broad range of people who would like to own something like the Spartan for the right price but don't have the time, or space, or skills to take on a project of that magnitude from scratch.  So I am starting this thread to present my ideas as to what a Spartan kit would look like and cost, as well getting feedback from potential owners as to what they feel a reasonable cost would be as well as features that they would like to see that I have not already included.  The process of creating a kit while somewhat straight forward is an undertaking that will be both expensive and time consuming upfront for me so I would like to jump into that with a good feeling that the market is strong enough to support the product.

Passengers: 1
Street Legal: Possible
Total Weight : 800lbs + Driver
Wheelbase: 97.5"
Track: 62-64"
Total Length: 132"

Total Width: 72"

Ride Height: 4"
Total Height: 48"

Engine Options: Suzuki GSXR 600/750/1000 (Initially) and then Honda CBR 600/750/1000 later with one more optional depending on demand
Chassis: Mild Steel, MIG welded, Tube Frame
Front Suspension: Double Wishbone, Pushrod (w/ Bilstein or Fox Shox Coil Overs)
Rear Suspension: OEM Swingarm and Strut
Steering: Rack and Pinion (1-1/2 turns lock-to-lock)
Tires: 205/40R17 All Around
Fuel: 5 gal
Expected Range: 120-150 Miles

Base Kit

Estimated Kit Cost: ~$12k

    Suspension: Upper and lower a-arms, uprights, steering arms, push rods, bell cranks, modified Honda hubs and bearings, front sway bar and linkage

    Hardware and Electrical kit with switches including excess wire required for the harness modification

Additional Components Required: Donor Bike, radiator, front shocks, front rims and tires, steering wheel, brake lines, head lights, tail lights, turn blinkers, 5 point harness, short exhaust tip (all of these things will have specific parts recommended possibly for sale through me and/or places to purchase except the bike for obvious reasons)

Complete Kit

Estimated Kit Cost: ~$16k

   Base kit plus all required components that don't come from the donor bike.

Weekend Warrior Package (~$5000)

    4 wheel conversion kit allowing for an overnight swap for racing and autocross.  The idea behind this is that you have a quick disconnect for the brake lines, you remove the swing arm and bolt on the rear end in place of it and it contains the rear suspension and drive components.

Wheel Pants (~$1000) or Wheel Fenders (~$250)
Composite wheel pants that enclose the front wheels for maximum aerodynamic efficiency or wheel fenders that will just allow you to meet road legal specification where required

Canopy (~$3000)

   Full enclosure plexiglass type canopy similar to aircraft canopies, this was an idea of mine from the start but I just never followed through on it.

This will obviously vary between builders but the intent will be as follows, cost should be about $20k, build time should be expected to be 1-3 months.  The hardest bit of the kit is the wiring, the entire handle bar harness needs to be extended about 6ft which from my first go around is about 40 wires.  Beyond that I want this product to be an erector set where all the pieces are there and just waiting for the builder to bolt them together.